Sound panel for playing sounds and music, and method for manufacturing such panel

Abstract

A sound panel for playing sounds and music, comprising a substantially flat soundboard made of wood, at least one tie which is fitted to the soundboard in order to subject the soundboard to a mechanical tension, an electromechanical transducer which is mounted on the soundboard in a nodal vibration point of the soundboard and can be connected to an electronic audio source in order to transduce into mechanical pulses and consequent vibrations of the soundboard audio information that arrives from the electronic audio source in the form of electrical signals, the soundboard comprising areas having mutually different thicknesses in order to evenly distribute transfer of energy from the soundboard to the air over a range of sound frequencies.

1. A method for manufacturing a sound panel for playing sounds and music, characterized in that it comprises the steps of:
 building a soundboard out of wood, which is substantially flat and has a preset shape, said building comprising: drawing said preset shape, gluing together a plurality of wooden strips arranging them on a single layer so as to form substantially the drawn preset shape and so that the fiber of the wood is substantially directed along a long side or a long diagonal of the drawn preset shape, the grain of said wooden strips being not parallel to the larger surface of the strips; 
 determining an intrinsic vibration frequency of the soundboard; 
 determining a nodal point of vibration of the soundboard; 
 performing a frequency mapping on the surface of the soundboard in order to determine peaks of intensity in an audio frequency range along the surface of the soundboard; 
 modifying the thickness of areas of the soundboard selected according to the value of the peaks of intensity obtained at the various frequencies; 
 applying, to said soundboard, at least one tie having such a dimension and radius of curvature as to apply a mechanical tension to said soundboard; 
 forming a seat inside the soundboard in said nodal point; 
 mounting an electromechanical transducer within said seat, in order to transduce into mechanical pulses and consequent vibrations of the soundboard audio information which arrives from an electronic audio source in the form of electrical signals. 
 
   
   
     2. The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that it comprises, after said gluing step, the steps of:
 calibrating the soundboard to a first thickness; 
 inlaying the edge of the soundboard and inserting a wooden fillet along the edge of the soundboard; 
 calibrating the soundboard to a second uniform thickness which is lower than the first thickness. 
 
   
   
     3. The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that said step of performing a frequency mapping comprises the steps of:
 vibrating the soundboard at the audio frequencies of said frequency range; 
 measuring the intensity of the vibration on each of said plurality of areas for each one of said audio frequencies. 
 
   
   
     4. The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that it further comprises the step of shaping said ties. 
   
   
     5. The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that it repeats said step of determining the intensity peaks for the areas of the soundboard the thickness whereof has been modified. 
   
   
     6. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the selected areas is selected so as to optimize the energy transfer from the sound panel to the air. 
   
   
     7. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said electromechanical transducer is of the bimorphic piezoceramic type.